ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: A novel coronavirus defined as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first detected in China at the end of 2019 and spread rapidly all over the world. As the covid 19 pandemic has led to changes in life all over the world, the prognosis of diseases have also been affected. This study presents how early puberty has been affected during the pandemic period.

Method: A total of 210 subjects; 113 individuals (94 girls; 3 boys) after the covid19 (2020-2021) and 97 individuals (104 girls; 9 boys) before covid19 (2018-2019) evaluated with suspicion of precocious puberty at the Pediatric Endocrinology department of Erciyes university. Age, sex, the time of pubertal signs, initial admission findings, exposure to endocrine disruptors, bone age, anthropometric measurements and tanner stages at the first examination, MRI results, peak FSH, peak LH and basal E2 levels, the time between bone age and chronological age, uterine long axis and ovarian measurements were collected from clinical records.

Results: Before covid19, the median age of 97 patients was 7,58 (3.6- 9.8) years while after covid19, the median age of 113 patients was 8,04 (5,1-10,6) years. The increase was observed in patients with precocious puberty during covid19 period. The mean of bone ages before covid19 were 8.5 years (+1.81) while after covid19 was 9.4 years (+1.51). The time between bone age and chronological age; pre-pandemic mean was 1.1 (+1.14); post-pandemic was 1.4 (+1.24). The body mass index (BMI) SD value was:0.81 (+1.1) at the first admission before the pandemic, it was 1.14 (+1.08) after the pandemic. Before and after the pandemic statistically bone ages (P<0.01), BMI (P:0.032) SD value, patient ages (P<0.01), FSH peaks (P:0.034) were evaluated and the results were significant. Girls presented with precocious puberty more frequently in both periods before and after the pandemic. The most common complaint was thelarche in both periods. Endocrine disruptor exposure was found to be increased in the post-pandemic group and it was statistically significant.

Conclusion: The Covid 19 epidemic was effective in precocious puberty cases as well as in many diseases. During this period, a significant increase was observed in endocrine disrupting exposure and the increase in bone age and BMI SD value of the patients were notable.